OUTDOORS: Fewer days to fish for fluke fans

The good news is that the fluke size and bag limits will be the same as last year, at 17.5 inches minimum and five per day.

The not so good news is that it will be a shorter, so far, season, with 122 days fishing time as opposed to 147 last year.

This is due to an alleged 15 percent over quota catch in 2012, which was determined by a bunch of alphabet letter agencies and desk jockey bureaucrats with a Ouija board, or so it seems.

I’d like to believe it was based on more scientific data, but a heap of saltwater fishermen and boat captains doubt it.

The process makes me happy to have a little lake in Pennsylvania where there are no commercial vs. recreational catch smoke-and-mirror numbers or government lackeys to determine if I can keep a perch or two for dinner.

But fluke are a mainstay, along with bluefish, for the party and charter boat business down the Shore and the size and catch limits are a constant worry for captains trying to earn a living from the summer tourist trade as well as Jersey regulars who hop aboard for a day of fun on the ocean.

Bluefish are not a problem for anglers wanting to lug home a cooler full of fish. There’s a liberal 15-fish limit, which begs the question: How many bluefish do you need?

Add to the equation that fluke taste a whole lot better than bluefish and you have concern over the size and bag limits.

More welcome news for flattie fans is that the season dates and limits just approved by the NJ Marine Fisheries Council did not choose one of the options that would have put the size limit back to the much-despised 18-inch minimum.

According to reports we’ve gathered, there were six options, all but one reducing the length of the season and three promoting the return to an 18-inch minimum. I believe last season was the first we haven’t had that size restriction since 2008.

The lone choice that would have extended the season, by only two days, was dropped because of concerns of over fishing, which would put us back in the same boat next year when it came to setting seasons and limits.

So it’s a shorter season, May 18-Sept. 16. Last year it ran May 5-Sept. 28.

Summer flounder (fluke) anglers know all about the word “short.”

This is the ratio of fish caught below the size minimum to keepers and it can range from 1-5 (a great day) to one keeper for every 10 or 15 caught and it’s often 20 or so for one allowed in the box. The longer the season the greater the odds for a better ratio; fish do eat and grow over the summer.

According to reports from the Jersey Coast Anglers Association there is a slim chance the season could be extended upon review by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council.

The JCAA also mentions damage to marinas, boats and costal homes may result in less fluke fishing this year. That remains to be seen, but I have my doubts that the effects of Hurricane Sandy will put much of a crimp in shore fishing this summer.

Meanwhile if you’re a “winter” flounder fan, you can try your luck starting March 23…if sitting in the cold for a two-fish limit appeals to you.

HAPPY ANGLERSWe mentioned the announcement of the annual NJ Skillful Angler Awards in our Out in the Open Blog, but wanted to get some more info in today’s print column.

According to Fish & Wildlife, it’s the 30th anniversary of the program and 163 anglers applied for honors last year, up from the 31 applicants in 1983.

I don’t really know what constitutes winners from “our area” these days, thus see the complete list at www.njfishandwildlife.com.

Last I checked, however, Trenton was local.

That means George Horvath of our capital city earned a Skillful Anglers award in the Catch-and-Release category, freshwater, for a 35.5-inch carp caught from Carnegie Lake last May. Cornmeal was the bait.

A channel catfish of 35 inches was caught by Jack Pitko of Burlington from Sylvan Lake on a live sunfish to win an award and Charlie Fischer of Flemington netted a 28-inch brown trout from the Ken Lockwood Gorge on a nymph What pattern he used wasn’t revealed.

STUFF TO DODon’t forget the Pequest Hatchery open house and flea market March 23-24, The Saltwater Expo in Somerset March 15-17 and a turkey hunting seminar and calling clinic at Pequest March 16.